Saturday, November 04, 2006

Tressel nearly outsmarted himself

I've spent the last few hours contemplating my thoughts on the game, and I came to one conclusion. Jim Tressel tried so hard to NOT show anything new to Michigan, and he nearly got bit in the ass for it.

We went up 17-0 at halftime and we were cruising to another blowout victory. Then, for some inexplicable reason, Tressel became TOO predictable. It was horrifying to watch, because EVERYBODY knew what play was coming.

In the second half, Ohio State ran 10 plays on first down. NINE of them were handoffs to Pittman. The only remaining first down play? A three-yard pass to Pittman.

Ridiculous, and nearly embarrassing. I expected better, and frankly, I'm angry about it.

Am I angry because we only won by 7? No. Am I angry because we didn't execute well? No. I'm angry because we didn't even put up a pretense of trying to mix it up.

We buried Indiana because when we got a small lead, we kept playing OUR style of ball. The same goes for Minnesota. We didn't run up the score, but we still ran OUR plays. But today, we gave up trying. We stopped showing them any different formations, and Illinois reacted.

I kept saying "Tressel's drawing them in, here comes the kill." It never came. He just kept running off-tackle. Again and again and again.

Fortunately, this was an abberation. Tressel will return next week and stop thinking ahead. Michigan Week doesn't begin until the first second AFTER the game against Northwestern.